Surfacing and coloring concrete



Patented Novall, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT R. KAUFKAN, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE MASTER BUILDERS COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, .A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

SURFACING AND COLORING CONCRETE.

.No Drawing.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT It. KAUFMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Surfacing and Coloring Concrete, of which the fol-lowing is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawl' hi invention relates to the coloring and surface treatment of concrete or cement structures, either those having a coloring material incorporated therein or those made without color. F or many concrete structures such as floors it is desired to employ a coloring material in order to avoid the necessity of subsequently painting the same or covering them with carpets and linoleums, yetthe injury done to such a surface by subsequent building operations or even by moving furniture thereover, frequently necessitates painting or floor covering. It is also well known that a naked concrete floor, unless specially treated in some way is hard,

noisy, liable to disintegrate into dust, and

readily penetrable by moisture or spotted by grease.

The objects of my invention are the provision of a mode of treatment whereby the noise and dustiness and porosity can be overcome and the appearance improved, and also whereby an uncolored floor or other structure can be colored or an already colored structure be renovated.

The essence of my invention consists in impregnating the dry surface portions of the concrete with a wax dissolved in a volatile vehicle. In case it be desired to color a previously uncolored structure this Wax solution is itself colored by a dye which is soluble'in either the wax or the solvent so as to be carried into the pores and interstices of the concrete wherever the mixture may penetrate. In case the mixture is to be applied to a structure which is already colored in the making, it is itself colored to the same shade by the use of either a dissolved dye or a pigment, since'it is not important whether the Application filed April 3,

1923. Serial No. 629,698.

coloring material is itself carried into the pores. The wax used may be bees-wax, carnauba wax or paraliin, or a mixture of the foregoing or other waxes although paraffin aloneis too soft for most uses. The solvent employed may be benzene, benzine, benzol,-.

this composition is free from water, and is 1 applied to the water-free floor or structure so that saponification of the wax does not occur even when a wax is used which would ordinarily be saponifiable under proper conditions. The result is that the surface pores become completely filled with this soft and yielding waxy material, which is able to take a decided gloss or polish, and in its texture and feel is not unlike that of linoleum. When colored it has the advantage of overcoming the cold appearance of naked concrete and of producing a surface which is not subject to scratching and that is waterproof and dust-proof, soft to the feel and free from the loud echoes usually exhibited by concrete.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. The process of improving the appearance of a structure made of colored concrete which contains the step of applying thereto a wax dissolvedflin a water-free volatile vehicle and colored the same as the structure.

filled with a wax in which is dissolved a coal tar dye.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature.

ROBERT R. KAUFMAN. 

